Effect of various concentrations of agar and sucrose on growth and tuberization of four Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) varieties under in vitro, invivo conditions

The study tends to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of agar treatment (5, 7, and 9 g.l-1) with sucrose (20, 30, and 40 g.l-1) on in vitro shoot regeneration and rooting in one step using tuber-eyes and node explants of four potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L) varieties “Sagitta, Challenger, SM 13–132– 05 and Taurus”, and minitubers production under greenhouses conditions which are going to be grown in Kurdistan -Iraq. The results showed that SM 13–132– 05 cultivar was superior upon the other cultivars under in vitro conditions through multiplication tests (Agar concentration 7 g.l-1 and sucrose concentration 30 g.l-1) and greenhouse conditions by producing the highest shoot multiplication (3.17 shoots/ explant, 12.84 leaves/ explant and 14.51cm mean length of roots) and the best number of minitubers (5.72 minitubers/ plantlet) in greenhouse. Whereas, Challenger had the lowest number of minitubers (3.75/ plantlet). On the other hand, there was no significant differences in the effect of the different concentrations of Agar and sucrose on the four cultivars in terms of the rooting percentage.